South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) - Prof Madhi wins the NSTF-South32 Lifetime Award

Title:

Prof Madhi wins the NSTF-South32 Lifetime Award

 

Published:

South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), July 2022

https://www.samrc.ac.za/news/prof-madhi-wins-nstf-south32-lifetime-award

 

From the news article:

Eminent scientist and director of the SAMRC /Wits Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (VIDA), Prof Shabir Madhi, is the winner of this year’s NSTF-South32 Lifetime Award. The award recognises an outstanding achievement by an individual to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation in South Africa over a period of 15 years or more. 

 

LATIN AMERICA - New study reveals COVID’s impact on region’s universities [University World News, May 2022]

Title:

New study reveals COVID’s impact on region’s universities 

 

Author:

Rebecca Warden  

 

Published:

University World News, 25 May 2022 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20220525103931781

 

From the article:

Measuring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education has been a major theme at the third UNESCO World Higher Education Conference (WHEC2022) in Barcelona, Spain. A report unveiled at the event describes how the universities of Latin America have weathered the storm.

 

Click here to read the report.

Beauty and wonder of science boosts researchers’ well-being: Appreciating the phenomena they study helps scientists to persevere in the face of setbacks [Nature, March 2022]

Title: 

Beauty and wonder of science boosts researchers’ well-being: Appreciating the phenomena they study helps scientists to persevere in the face of setbacks  

 

Author: 

Brian Owens  

 

Published: 

Nature, 17 March 2022 

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00762-8   

 

From the article: 

Scientists’ ability to experience wonder, awe and beauty in their work is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and better mental health, finds an international survey of researchers.

 

Rhodes University, South Africa - How colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of biodiversity

Title:

How colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of biodiversity

Published:

Rhodes University, 16 February 2022

https://www.ru.ac.za/latestnews/howcolonialhistoryandglobaleconomicsdistortourunderstandingofbiodivers.html

From the news article:

In an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, Rhodes University PhD student Aviwe Matiwane shows, along with six other researchers, how colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity.

Superintelligence: Futurology vs. Science [Yoshua Bengio, January 2022]

Title:

Superintelligence: Futurology vs. Science

Author:

Yoshua Bengio

Full Professor at Université de Montréal, and the Founder and Scientific Director of Mila – Quebec AI Institute

 

Published:

Yoshua Bengio, 24 January 2022

https://yoshuabengio.org/2022/01/24/superintelligence-futurology-vs-science/

 

From the article:

We sometimes come across catchy headlines about AI that can scare or excite us, such as “By the middle of this century, artificial intelligence will be a billion times smarter than the human brain,” and “Artificial intelligence could surpass the human brain by 2029” (La Presse, January 23, 2022).

 

The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill [Wired, May 2021]

Title:

The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill

 

Author:

Megan Molteni

 

Published:

Wired, 13 May 2021

https://www.wired.com/story/the-teeny-tiny-scientific-screwup-that-helped-covid-kill/

 

From the article:

All pandemic long, scientists brawled over how the virus spreads. Droplets! No, aerosols! At the heart of the fight was a teensy error with huge consequences.

 

INDIA - India has reached ‘watershed’ for science and innovation [University World News, June 2021]

Title:

India has reached 'watershed' for science and innovation

 

Author:

Shuriah Niazi  

 

Published:

University World News, 18 June 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210618133004502

 

From the article:

The period 2015 to 2020 has been a watershed for science and innovation in India. With a stable government, a large number of policies and programmes have been developed to encourage an innovation culture and absorb major emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and electric vehicles. 

STEM Education in College: An Analysis of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges and Potential Solutions [Scholarly Article - FDLA Journal, 2020]

Title:

STEM Education in College: An Analysis of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges and Potential Solutions

 

Authors:

Santanu De, Nova Southeastern University

Georgina Arguello, Nova Southeastern University

 

Published:

FDLA Journal, Volume 5, Article 9 (2020)

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fdla-journal/vol5/iss1/9/

Abstract:

A vast majority of academic disciplines and curricula in the college center around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are critical to developing the skills necessary for a global workforce. Rapid changes in pedagogical setups, educational modes, and advances in instructional technology entail diverse challenges for key stakeholders (i.e. students, faculty, and the organizations). This paper highlights the most relevant challenges and potential solutions in STEM higher education at the college level, reported in the last decade. The holistic analysis combining the three stakeholders’ perspectives would help elucidate significant contemporary aspects impacting the fields. The goal is to further understand the factors impeding expected learning outcomes. This would help identify as well as bridge the gaps among these three pillars of instruction, possibly forming a foundation for improved content, delivery, and efficacy of higher education in STEM.

Short Article - AI can automatically rewrite outdated text in Wikipedia articles (by Jon Fingas)

Title:
AI can automatically rewrite outdated text in Wikipedia articles

Author:
Jon Fingas

Published:
Engadget, 12 February 2020

From the article:
"It's good to be skeptical of Wikipedia articles for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the possibility of outdated info -- human editors can only do so much. And while there are bots that can edit Wikipedia, they're usually limited to updated canned templates or fighting vandalism. MIT might have a more useful (not to mention more elegant) solution."

To read this article:
https://www.engadget.com/2020/02/12/mit-ai-automatically-rewrites-outdated-wikipedia-text/